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Thursday, July 19, 2012

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ~Isaiah 41:10NIV

As often happens, at least to me, life becomes overwhelming—or it seems that way. A series of small things have happened that have left me upset and irritated. And then some big things have happened also.

One of the small things is that my Roomba has died. Roombas, for those who may not know, are the robotic vacuum cleaners. Simply turn it on and it keeps your floors clean. Of course, you have to empty it and keep the filter clean. We thought it might be the battery and ordered a new one. Nope, it still doesn’t work. Do you know it’s been years since I’ve actually vacuumed with an upright vacuum cleaner—one I have to push myself?

Do you know the story (I’m sure it has probably occurred more than once!) when a young lady finishes her shopping and goes to the grocery parking lot? She can’t get her car door unlocked, and a kind gentleman asks if he can help. He inserts the key into the locked door and turns it. Of course, she had been trying to unlock it remotely and the battery in her key was dead.

We’ve become so used to gadgets that do our work for us that we often forget how to do things ourselves. Just like I’ve forgotten how to vacuum. (Not really, but I don’t want to vacuum.)I want my Roomba to do the hard work for me.

And so it is with many things in life. We want to be spoon fed. We don’t want the struggles and trials of life. We don’t want to pull out our Bibles and study for ourselves. We don’t want to think. Thinking is too much like work.

When we put God first, it involves work. It involves thinking and studying. When we do that, the little things will fall into place, into their proper perspective.